Community Voice

Katherine Leibforth is foundation director of the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Perhaps you are a person who rolls out of bed each day and says to yourself, “Today is the day I make the world a better place!”

If so, you will appreciate that Rotary-La Grange members have also said such a thing, and that on Monday, Nov. 4, they had a very, very good day. Following many months of meetings, many hours of collaboration and many dollars donated by area philanthropists, they unveiled their masterpiece: The Community Services Video Project.

Complete with popcorn, the video premier was accompanied by heartwarming entertainment provided by the Helping Hand Bell Choir and Dancers from the LeaderShop’s Watch My Feet troupe. While the Harvest Reception, hosted by The West Suburban Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Nonprofit Resource Committee, takes an opportunity each Fall to recognize the collaboration among our communities’ business leaders, this year’s celebration marked the most complex mix of organizations and individuals in the event’s five-year tradition.

The project was led by Rotary La Grange and supported by the Brookfield Rotary, Western Springs Rotary and Hinsdale Rotary. The video features 10 nonprofit agencies that are key service providers in the western suburbs. Each of the agencies in the video highlights how they can assist area residents in finding the services they need to live healthy, independent lives.

Cindy Frymark, co-chair of the La Grange Rotary Community Service Committee, said, “The committee believed that while La Grange is not unique in facing the problems outlined in the video, we are unique in the way our community is addressing these issues.”

Frymark, with co-chair Ken Grunke of Aging Care Connections, also identified numerous community leaders to speak to the necessity of the project. Greg DiDomenico, President of Community Memorial Foundation (CMF) was one of those leaders. CMF regularly advances its vision and mission of building healthier communities by partnering with local organizations and building on existing local assets.

DiDomenico, and the video premier itself, invited every one of the event’s 150 guests to “be the message,” a call to action that is extended to all of you reading this today. To be the message, like it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Rotary-Club-of-LaGrange. In this rare instance, making the world a better place is very easy. Just pass it on.